Backlash (2018)
Backlash (2018) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event, produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on May 6, 2018, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It was the fourteenth and final event in the Backlash chronology and the first Backlash event since 2009 to be dual-branded. The card comprised nine matches, including one on the pre-show. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Samoa Joe. Also on the card, Seth Rollins retained the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz, and WWE Champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura fought to a draw. The show was also notable for Daniel Bryan's first singles pay-per-view match since Fastlane in 2015. Storylines The card comprised nine matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. At WrestleMania 34, AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. After the match, Nakamura turned heel by attacking Styles with a low-blow. Repeated attacks by Nakamura led to a rematch at the Greatest Royal Rumble on April 27, where Styles retained the title after the match ended in a double countout. Later that day, it was announced that Styles would defend the title in another rematch against Nakamura at Backlash. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, SmackDown General Manager Paige announced that the match would be no disqualification. At WrestleMania 34, Seth Rollins defeated The Miz and Finn Bálor in a triple threat match to capture the Intercontinental Championship. The following night on Raw, The Miz invoked his championship rematch clause for Backlash. During the Superstar Shake-up, Miz was traded to SmackDown. Prior to Backlash, Rollins retained the title against Miz, Bálor, and Samoa Joe, who was also traded to SmackDown, at the Greatest Royal Rumble in a fatal four-way ladder match, making Rollins the defending champion at Backlash. At WrestleMania 34, Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Rusev in a fatal four-way match to win the United States Championship. On the following episode of SmackDown, Orton defeated Roode and Rusev in a triple threat match to face Mahal for the title at Backlash. However, on the April 16 edition of Raw, Mahal was traded to Raw during the Superstar Shake-up and lost the title to Jeff Hardy, and Mahal invoked his rematch clause at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Hardy was then traded to SmackDown the next night, where as Orton was about to face Shelton Benjamin, Hardy interrupted his entrance and took the match instead. The following week, Hardy was set to face Benjamin, but Orton this time interrupted Hardy and took the match. Hardy would retain his championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble against Mahal, making Hardy the defending champion against Orton at Backlash. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Orton and Hardy teamed up and defeated Miz and Benjamin, after which, Orton attacked Hardy with an RKO. At WrestleMania 34, Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss to win the Raw Women's Championship. A rematch for the championship was scheduled for Backlash. On the April 10 episode of SmackDown, Charlotte Flair, who had just retained the SmackDown Women's Championship against Asuka at WrestleMania 34, was attacked by The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce). Carmella took advantage of the opportunity and cashed in her Money in the Bank contract and won the championship. A rematch was scheduled for Backlash. At WrestleMania 34, Brock Lesnar retained the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns and then was scheduled to defend the title against Reigns in a steel cage match at the Greatest Royal Rumble, which Reigns lost. On Raw, Reigns addressed his match against Lesnar when a returning Samoa Joe, who had been out with injury since January, interrupted him, called him a failure, and challenged him to a match at Backlash. During the Superstar Shake-up, Joe was traded to SmackDown. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, Big Cass returned from injury, aiding Shinsuke Nakamura in attacking AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan during a match in which the two were teaming together. The following week, a Miz TV segment with Daniel Bryan was advertised, but instead Cass came out. (It was later revealed that Cass had attacked him backstage.) SmackDown General Manager Paige scheduled a match between the two for Backlash. At Greatest Royal Rumble, Cass eliminated Bryan from the Greatest Royal Rumble match. On the April 9 episode of Raw, Bobby Lashley returned to WWE after a ten-year absence. Also that night, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn appeared backstage on Raw and tried to convince Raw General Manager Kurt Angle to hire them since they were unsuccessful in gaining back their jobs on SmackDown at WrestleMania 34. Angle decided that the winner of a match between the two would get a contract, but the match ended in a double countout, so neither received a contract. On the April 16 episode, however, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon overruled Angle and awarded both Owens and Zayn contracts. The two were later involved in a 10-man tag team match, and were defeated by the opposing team, which included Lashley and Braun Strowman. On the April 30 episode, Roman Reigns, Lashley, and Strowman defeated Jinder Mahal, Owens, and Zayn in a 6-man tag team match. During the match, Strowman continuously sent Owens and Zayn crashing into the barricade walls. Later in the night, a match between Lashley and Strowman against Owens and Zayn was made for Backlash. On May 4, a match between Bayley and Ruby Riott was scheduled for Backlash pre-show. Aftermath Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Backlash Category:Backlash Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2018 Pay-Per-View Events